I will be back for a few days in September and cannot wait to see you all again! I am scheduling a limited number of sessions to update your pet portraits. Of course, your kids and families are more than welcome to join in the fun! Preference is to past clients, but I will happily make time for your friends and referrals. I’ll be borrowing the fabulous studio of Liz Vance in Arlington, VA for a few days.

If you are ready to have your portraits scheduled, please use the booking module below. The $50.00 USD fee is to reserve your session time, but it is a deposit toward your purchase. You will be credited $50.00 back toward your order. Because of the limited number of availability, there is a $250 minimum investment requirement.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon! September 20-24, 2018

Sincerely,Stephanie

DC ONLY: SPECIAL PRODUCTS

METAL PRINT

High gloss Metal Prints are printed on high definition, aluminum sheets with a white base that allows your image’s rich colors to pop with unprecedented vibrancy. Great to showcase fine detail!

11×14 Beginning at $250

TRIPTYCH

Trilogy of your favorite images, printed in a single 10×20 piece. Perfect for an add-on to your pet portraiture collection!

10×20 is $350

CANVAS CLUSTER

Choose from eight artist-inspired arrangements for the perfect interior design statement. From 5 to 9 images in a variety of displays. Canvas over Masonite for extreme durability.

Beginning at $950

The Metal Print and Canvas Cluster are new items! The images above are direct from the vendor website.

SIGNATURE PRODUCTS

FOLIO BOX

6, 12, or 20 prints in a handcrafted leatherette box, with high-resolution retouched files of all included images. All images are archived in white mats, ready for framing. A client favorite!

Beginning at $900

COLLAGE WALL

Metal collage in a variety of configurations. Images are fused directly to aluminum and mount on a matrix of pegs for a clean, modern presentation. Files of all chosen images are included.

Beginning at $1500

CANVAS WRAP

Beautiful, museum-quality archival canvas wrapped around a stretcher frame. Heirloom piece to pass down for generation after generation. File of canvased image included.

RESERVE YOUR SESSION

See You Soon!

WARNING: Long Post Ahead!

Another year of Print Competition is in the bag. As always, my favorite thing to do is watch the competition Live (well, Live online) with my friends, guess the scores, gripe about what I disagree with, and watch everyone’s scores roll in. My Facebook feed is filled with stories of love and loss and sorrow 79s and magical unicorn 100’s. (We also refer to these as “The Red X of Infinite Sadness” and “The Green Checkmark of Eternal Happiness.” Photographers are dramatic like that.)

As for my own results, I can say – not too shabby! I entered 2 cases this year (for the second year in a row) and all 8 of my prints merited, with two being accepted into the prestigious Loan Collection – 1 from each case. That gets me two shiny new Silver Photographer of the Year medallions – a.k.a. “Double Silver.”

For emphasis: DOUBLE SILVER

As you guys know, I try to make personal goals for each year’s image competition, and whenever possible, I only use new pieces. Unfortunately, this year, Northeast District kind of snuck up on me, and I really had to rush to pull my case together. (Add insult to injury – the day after I uploaded it, they extended the deadline by about 2½ weeks but I was on vacation anyway so didn’t get any extra time…) Because of the rush, I tried to pull together newer work at an 80 or above level for my Photographic Open case and instead put all my focus into my Artist case. This kind of worked, since 3 of my 4 images sealed (merited) in each case, but I’m glad I got to re-work/re-enter since the new 4th images were the ones that did the best.

Without further ado, here are this year’s entries (including the one above.)

Waterfront Parking scored an 80 at Northeast District and sealed for Merit at IPC. Honestly, it probably shouldn’t have. I see things now that could have been changed. Like I mentioned – this case was assembled in a rush! This was taken in Madeira (Funchal), Portugal during our cruise last year.

***

It’s Bigger on the Insidescored an 80 at Northeast District and sealed for Merit at IPC. This one was shot in San Pedro de Atacama. Not much to say about it. It was a cool door so I took a picture.

***

Bewitched scored an 81 at Northeast District and sealed for Merit at IPC. It’s a simple (and, admittedly Safe) image for Print Competition of a well-lit studio portrait of a pretty woman. Either way, I really love it – it’s one of my favorite portraits. This is Natalie, our studio manager who has since moved back to the States to pursue bigger and better things.

***

Llama Vista was what we call “Case Filler.” 10pm the night before the late entry deadline, I still couldn’t think of anything to enter. So I uploaded a private gallery on Facebook to ask a few friends their opinions, and they picked this one. I was like, “Really? But, it’s just a random view of Chile. It’s not even the right time of day!” This image has virtually nothing done to it, except a little tonal contrast. I couldn’t even think of a name so the title “Llama Vista” I can’t even take credit for. Long story short, I’ll be crowd-sourcing my images next year, since this one is one of my highest-scoring images ever. It scored a 92 and then was accepted into the LOAN Collection!

Two notes.

First: These aren’t llamas – they’re vicunas. (With an Enye, but I can’t get this GUI to make the squiggly-N character.)This was taken in the Altiplano of the Atacama desert (near Guatin) and I made Dave pull off the side of the road as my sisters-in-law and I ran out of the car to get this shot. Vicunas are in the north of Chile. Guanacos are in the South. Last year’s comp image was Guanacos. Alpacas are domestic and in Peru. Llamas, maybe. Camels are the only camelid not native to South America. Impress your friends with your new-found knowledge.

Second Note: I got to watch this image be judged live. It was challenged by one of my favorite people on the planet to go to the Superior category. And then it was judged by another one of my favorite people for Loan. Neither of them knew it was my print, of course – everything is done blind. But it was fun to watch!

ARTIST CASE

This was my second year entering the Artist competition. Last year I took an oil painting class and really enjoyed the manual/tactile experience of working with paint. Unfortunately… oil paints and turpentine don’t really mix well with a toddler. (Also, I spent about half my concentration trying to think/speak in Spanish vs. concentrating on the piece… but I’d definitely go back to that class if I had the time or childcare!)

Anyway, I wanted to merge my newfound love of oils to Photography. Not necessarily for anything for clients or as a possible revenue stream – just kinda started doing it because I liked it. I took a Photoshop painting class while pregnant (with the aforementioned Favorite Person in the World) and really had a blast. Then, in April, I took a week-long Fine Art Photoshop course to further advance the new skill-set. (Another one of my favorite people was the instructor. I have a lot of favorite people who are photographers, clearly.) None of those techniques made the case, but I did develop and refine these kaleidoscopes I started last year.

Vortex scored an 80 at Northeast District and sealed for Merit at IPC. The original capture is the interior of Saint Chappelle Cathedral in Paris – most magnificent windows! The initial exposure was turned into an HDR image, then a polar distortion was applied in Photoshop. Then I made a clipping mask using the gold element, and turned that selection into a kaleidoscope. From there, a little twisting, warping, spiraling turned the image into a… welll… Vortex. Hence the title.

***

The Aztec Talisman scored an 82 at Northeast District and sealed for Merit at IPC. Similar to the technique above, the initial capture was an old exposure from the Jeronimo Monestary in Lisbon, Portugal. Add in some polar distortion, and some shape masking, and some gold leaf, and voila!

I heard this one judged a few months back and the judges were raving about the faces. Swear to God, I never noticed them until the judges pointed them out! I mean, I titled it “Aztec Talisman” because that’s immediately what popped into my head – something about it looked Mesoamerican. So maybe I did notice? That’s why I love these pieces though – interpretive.

***

Closing Time in Kennebunkport Is a re-work of an image I entered last year which crashed and burned. (Ok, fine, it got a 79 last time.) There were a few flaws that needed to be cleaned up, and a bigger transformation needed to be seen to get it to merit. Happy to say that it ended up at an 81 this time around. This was taken in Kennebunkport, Maine and I just thought it was the coolest little shop vignette!

***

HAILEY

Most of you already know this, but we were truly heartbroken when our little girl, Hailey, crossed the Rainbow Bridge in March. I was in NJ, and Dave was here – I tried to get back to Chile as fast as I could, knowing how sick Hailey got, and how quickly it was happening. Dave was with her – but even with moving my flight up, she passed away while I was in the air. She had an undetected autoimmune disease which masqueraded as an upset stomach, or a weight problem or delicate skin for far longer than we knew. One of the issues with moving so often is long-term medical issues go unseen until they’re too late. Surprisingly, the type of autoimmune disease she had has a life expectancy of 8-9 years. She lived 14 years.

Irony. Or, “Do As I Say, Not As I Do.”

Before I left, I had promised I’d do a 14 year birthday photo of Hailey, Mr. Dracula, and JEM. I kept putting it off for various reasons.

The studio was a wreck. Little One needed her nap. Hailey needed a groom. Cat was being… a cat.

I never shot the image I wanted. Keep that in mind – I have a studio IN MY HOUSE with the two best pet-models in the world, and a surprisingly willing toddler… and I still didn’t make the time. I’d promised myself I’d do a birthday portrait as soon as I got home in March.

I never got to see Hailey after her 14th birthday.

Trying to Fit In was shot almost a year ago. Catbeast is 4, Little One is about 1½, and Hailey is 13½. The adorable unicorn sweater was something I picked up for $4.00 in Marshall’s on Clearance. (I do love me some discount clothing shopping…) Yes, that’s their real expressions. The title was picked by a friend – I really was at a loss for what to call this, but “Trying to Fit In” really worked.

I did enter this image at Northeast, but it didn’t merit. It got a 78, I think? But I ordered a critique and got really great advice on how to fix it – the toes were originally dark, and the texture on the sweater was lacking… I don’t remember everything, but the advice was good.

While I’m invested in all my competition prints, clearly this one had more meaning that the others. So listening to the image score an 82 out of the box was amazing.

And then… “Challenge.”

Sonuvabitch. Leave it as an 82! C’mon, don’t do this to me… I was watching online with friends who were equally enraptured and/or enraged.

“I had this in the next category at an 87” Wait, what? You’re challenging it… UP?

Then the judge (Larry, actually – I can always tell his voice.) spoke for the image – about their expressions, and relationship, the color harmony used, the technique employed. {I may have wept.} Just about the only negative given was that the cat was slimmed down… and in Mr. Dracula’s defense – he’s just big-boned. It’s pretty amazing when the judges “get” your work.

The judges settled in the Excellent category at an 86.

And Loan.

Since it didn’t seem right to write this whole blog without a proper send-off to Hailey, this is a video we put together of her. It’s a little long, but – it’s 14 years after all. I hope you enjoy it.

It’s been months since I’ve begged of my loyal readers to help with something… And therefore, it’s high-time I abuse your readership for my own personal advancement. 😉 Actually, it’s nothing huge, but I’d be forever obliged if you’d click the following link and simply “vote” for my image. Yes, it’s a popularity contest – but little would make me happier than winning a popularity contest too! The actual judging for best in category is done by PDN magazine editors. For those of you who aren’t familiar with PDN, it’s one of the leading market publications in the industry today. I got hooked on it in college while working at BU Photo Services.

Doesn’t she look just like a miniature black panther? Of course, that’s why her owners named her “Jag”! She’s the teeny-tiniest little (full-grown) kitty I’ve ever seen. Super adorable, with gorgeous black fur and big yellow eyes. She’s just the cutest little thing. Unlike Andy, I have to admit that Jag wasn’t so excited about having her portrait done. She wasn’t overly excited about a can of tuna… she seemed to appreciate the leftover dry food that Rental Cat refused to eat though! I’m glad somebody liked it anyway.

I’m pretty sure she’s sharpening her claws… 😉

Teeny Tiny Jaguar!

How pretty are those eyes? Love this one of her.

Ok, so I know I normally don’t do props… but she just loved (chewing on) her ribbon so much!

This is Andy, one of the absolute cutest kitties I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with! Completely easy to control, totally happy to be photographed. Why you ask? I think the answer might be the full can of Bumblebee tuna he scarfed down during the session! Funniest part, though… he was SO excited to eat tuna he literally WAGGED his tongue!

Now, normally when I edit down cat images, I pull out all the images where the cat looks mad or he’s running away (or both). In this case, Andy was perfectly (purr-fectly! haha, get it?) happy to be there, stayed put… his edits, however, were removing all the ones where his tongue was happily hanging out of his mouth! (Ok, well most – I included a really cute one of him.)

Andy will be one of the stars in the upcoming LOVEmutts book. If you have an adopted mutt (cat or dog!) please email the studio!

How cute is this face?!

Gray on Gray, in Gray. My favorite. He works great in Black and White!

He’s my rental-cat, here until the airline can find a place for him to go back to his mommy and daddy. This is Trigger – cat of fellow photographer friend, Erin. Erin had to relocate to the United States, but thanks to the military being wonderful at planning, she is forced to ship him back to the US apart from her (rather than take him on the plane with the family and dogs… go figure.) So now we’re trying to find a plane for Trigger to take.

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to plan anything in Italy… it just doesn’t work. So perhaps she’ll fly in to pick up Mr.Cat (which would be cool because we could FINALLY spend some time in Rome together)… or I’m just getting a new cat. It’s a good thing he’s amazingly cute, because this whole passive-aggressive thing he’s got going on with me just isn’t working. Right now, he’s apparently ticked that he’s locked in the studio – I know this because he just head-butted my softbox. I think it hurt him more than the equipment – but he at least got to shoot me a dirty look during it. “Take that, stupid human”

This sweet little girl had to be the easiest kitty to ever set foot in a studio. Just a dream to work with! Pichoo is a persian who is letting her teddy-bear cut grow out. I think she just loved modeling because she’s like the easiest cat model ever! Even mom and dad got in on some of the camera action.

Basically they’re cute little marsupials that look like mice and jump like squirrels. Got that? They really are super cute little buggers that love people. And I kind of always wanted to see one – and then Lacy emailed me saying she had a couple, as well as a gorgeous ragdoll kitty … and it all worked out really well. I mean, until one jumped on my camera and I screamed like a little girl – but yeah. Until then, it worked out great. 🙂

One of the boys (right before he accosted my face.)

Same guy, traveling around my backgrounds.

Zoey, the girl, peeking out to say hello!

Another guy, checking out the situation.

The three together!

… and a little sack full o’ gliders!

And here are a few of Mocha (most likely his name – he’s a new kitty still) – a simply beautiful Ragdoll cat. He wasn’t so thrilled about the camera though.

Ok, so I needed to come up with a title for a post about Hairless Cats, and I figured I wouldn’t be so blunt as to begin with “shaved”. These two beauties are Sphynxes, and nearly completely bald (save for the calico which sports a nifty cat toupee). As owner, Kristi, put it: “they feel like warm walking peaches”… And they kind of look like turkey.

Possible Comp. Print… Not sure yet.

…or this one.

So, there’s a slight size differential…

Really like this one

She’s fancy!

(Poor lil’ guy! He’s not missing pupils from lighting, he has cataracts.)